I’ve lived in Frederick most of my life…moved here in 1954 when I was 7 years old, when my grandpa Ralston (aka grandpa gramp as our kids called him) bought the grocery store/gas station on the corner. I have many fond memories of childhood there. The schoolhouse had two big rooms with 3 classes each, and we tried to be as good as we could because Miss Moyer was quite adept with a butter paddle. grin… School lunches were the best!! No one even considered bringing their lunch in those days!! Music class with Esther Knowles…never realized how much I appreciated her until years later. We had many fun ballgames, etc. in the school yard and singing together under the big tree, but when Miss Moyer rang the bell…well, you’d better be heading to class. The Baptist church from Beardstown brought Bible School to the school yard as well and passed many of the summer hours with great fun and learning. We knew everyone in town back then, and everyone knew us. I worked in grandpa’s store and pumped gas from day 1. Mary Jane (Hood) Davis liked to come over and help me do inventory at the store when it was time. She loved it….me, not so much….though it seems like a great memory now. I liked the snow much better back then, and remember sliding down the hills with Ronnie and Gary Utter, Dennis and Linda Scott, Mary Jane, the Stambaugh kids and many others. Grew up here in town and married the neighbor boy, Tony Wessel. We lived in Beardstown for a short time when we married, but couldn’t seem to stay away from Frederick. Ended up raising our kids here in the house where the Scott family had lived. It was great fun living there. We had horses and the boys showed nationally. Jon and Mary Jane Davis lived at the bottom of the hill and our kids never knew which of the houses were theirs as we were all so close. Things are much different now. Grandpa’s store closed. The corner where it sat looks completely different now. I hear names of folks that live here that I don’t recognize, but we still love it here. As a matter of fact, we have moved to the house where Tony grew up. We’ve lived here for almost 16 years and will probably be here much longer….God willing. When the leaves are off the trees, we can look out our windows and see the mansion on the hill. It’s always been a great attraction for our town….much curiosity from all. Years ago we were able to tour the house when our kids were home and all the rooms were still done totally in period furniture and fixtures. That was a fun day. We appreciate the work that’s being done to restore the mansion and bring life back into it. There is always much more to say about our Frederick, but it seems I’ve already been quite wordy. Blessings on the Ross and Ackman families as work continues!
-Brenda Ralston Wessel
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